Bayocean Spit Camping

I've decided on the new tradition of celebrating my birthday with a camping trip.  It all started last year by backpacking in Olympic National Park and continued this year at Bayocean Spit near Tillamook on the Oregon Coast.  Saturday afternoon, Megan, Kathy, West, Jason and I packed up the car and headed West until we came upon the Pacific Ocean.  We hiked about a mile down a dirt road, through some brush, over a little hill and onto the sand where we set up our camping area.

I've never actually camped on the beach (actually, I'm not even sure if it's legal), but it was so cool to just set up our tents on the sand, dig a pit for a camp fire, and lay back and relax as we listened to the ocean waves crashing just a hundred yards from us.  The sunset the first night was breath-taking.  It was a perfectly clear sky which turned bright colors of pink, orange and red as the sun set over the water.

There is something so refreshing about being out in nature with no sense of time and no obligations.  I'm definitely someone who like to use my time wisely and be productive, but for those three days I just relaxed and went with the flow.  So what did we do to fill our time?  Layed on the beach and read, sat around the campfire and talked, played frisbee, flew West's kiteboarding trainer kite (probably my favorite part of the weekend), cooked creative meals over the open fire, napped, and took long walks on the beach (seriously).  Sunday evening, I woke up from a nap to find Drew hanging out with the group - he had surprised me and come out to join the celebration!  I have such great friends.  They even made me a birthday smore with a candle in it and brough along little bottles of champagne (my favorite).

Thanks for joining in my birthday camping trip and for making it such a great start to my 26th year of life!